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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

The Encapsulation of Cell-free Transcription and Translation Machinery in Vesicles for the Construction of Cellular Mimics
Published on: October 21, 2013
Following the fate in vivo of COPI vesicles generated in vitro
Christoph Rutz1, Ayano Satoh, Paolo Ronchi
1Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
COPI vesicles are a class of transport carriers that function in the early secretory pathway. Their fate and function are still controversial. This includes their contribution to bidirectional transport within the Golgi apparatus and their role during cell division. Here we describe a method that should address several open questions about the fate and function of COPI vesicles in vivo. To this end, fluorescently labeled COPI vesicles were generated in vitro from isolated rat liver Golgi membranes, labeled with the fluorescent dyes Alexa-488 or Alexa-568. These vesicles appeared to be active and colocalized with endogenous Golgi membranes within 30 min after microinjection into mammalian cells. The COPI vesicle-derived labeled membrane proteins could be classified into two types that behaved like endogenous proteins after Brefeldin A treatment.
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